


Promising Backup

by SmartKIN



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Peter only makes an indirect appearance, Pre-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2016-11-05
Packaged: 2018-08-29 06:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8478580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmartKIN/pseuds/SmartKIN
Summary: Tony has FRIDAY collect data on enhanced individuals for cases of emergency. She finds Peter Parker.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I finally found the courage to write for mcu, yey! Took me long enough xD Right now I live and breathe for Tony & Peter bromance, and I have several fic ideas in mind (long and short), we'll see what I'll be able to actually write.
> 
> I had no idea how to tag this and what fandoms to pick, so I went with a bit of everything. This snippet was of course inspired by CA:CW and tries to fill in one of the many blanks, but it actually takes place between AoU and CA:CW. Idk, tagging mcu fic is difficult.

The meeting had drained him in ways he hadn’t thought possible and it wasn’t just energy Tony felt he’d lost. Even more than that, he no longer possessed the ease he’d once had in navigating life’s turbulent waters. Maybe it was just his age catching up with him—which, _yikes—_ or the excessive amounts of alcohol he’d consumed since MIT—God, he hoped not; he’d have to overhaul his entire lifestyle—but he had a hunch that it was mostly due to committing one huge mistake after the other. Simply living with the weight of them and not letting it crush him… well. He wasn’t Iron Man for nothing, but even iron tended to corrode after a while.

 

He folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against the wall of his private elevator that was taking him up to his makeshift penthouse. Most of the former Avengers Tower was still being remodeled into Stark Tower 2.0., but the lower levels were already open for business, and the board of directors had jumped at the chance of holding the meeting in New York City, rather than California. Tony was only glad that he didn’t have to stay at a hotel tonight.

 

Maybe his world weariness had more to do with losing Pepper on top of his mistakes. He didn’t want to admit how much it had thrown him off-course, but any sort of rationalization rang hollow, even in his own mind.

 

She had attended the meeting, of course—on a screen as part of a video conference, but still. Her decision to remain in California made it easier for both of them, he thought, since it kept their interactions strictly professional. Less risk of sending and receiving mixed signals. But it also hurt, her refusal to see him in person.

 

Pepper was one of the few friends he still had, most of which had lives that were too complicated to allow a physical presence in Tony’s. To be alone again…

 

He was suddenly transported back into the present moment when the elevator stopped at his floor. The doors pulled open and revealed a silent and open space; he could already see the city's lights behind the far wall of bulletproof glass, even before he stepped out of the spacious cabin.

 

He didn’t ask FRIDAY to turn on the lights—being shrouded in semi-darkness, the only illumination coming from outside, well, it fit his maudlin mood.

 

Meandering across the room, past the bedroom and the bar, he finally stilled in front of the window, simply staring outside. There were no thoughts forming in his head about what his eyes were seeing, no observations. He simply stood there, and for a moment he felt like a puppet waiting for its strings to be pulled.

 

Then, he mentally shook himself.

 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he muttered and dragged a hand over his face. He just needed a little sleep, some lab time, and he’d be right as rain.

 

Grinding his teeth he turned away from the breathtaking view he couldn't appreciate and marched towards his bedroom.

 

 _Some sleep and some lab time_ , he repeated in his mind, already recognizing all the hallmarks of a mantra. Well, there were worse phrases to live by.

 

“Boss?” FRIDAY suddenly chimed in, and Tony was pleased to notice that he didn’t startle at hearing her voice. He was finally growing accustomed to her presence in his life. About time, really.

 

Tony’s eyes flickered to the corner that housed FRIDAY’s nearest camera.

 

“What is it?”

 

“I found another one.”

 

That was his girl: cool, collected, straight to the point. Just what he needed. He readjusted his initial itinerary of sleep and lab time, and made a beeline for the couch instead.

 

“Show me,” he demanded and sat down.

 

The first cautious tendrils of excitement coursed through him as his AI fired up the digital projector and showed him several overlapping videos on a loop; a YouTube video capturing an individual swinging from one tall building to the next, grainy CCTV footage of much the same, a masked vigilante taking out a group of bank robbers single-handedly.

 

“Impressive. Were you able to identify him?”

 

“Why else would I have alerted you?” she asked in return, sarcasm strengthening her Irish accent a little. Then she added, as if to draw attention to her cheek: “Boss.”

 

Tony grinned.

 

“Why, indeed.”

 

There was more footage, this time CCTV only, showing the disappearance of the vigilante and the emergence of a teenager, too inconspicuous for people who didn’t know what they were looking for.

 

A teenager, he realized. _God_.

 

Next, FRIDAY pulled up a digital file that could have been school records and which identified the kid as Peter Parker, 15 years old, and listed an address in Queens. The photo in his file made him look about three years younger than his already tender age and Tony felt a well-known twinge of guilt.

 

Should he really be tracking this kid?

 

He mentally shook himself. There was a reason why he was doing this.

 

“Keep digging. Delete everything that could be used to identify him.”

 

“Yes, boss.”

 

He allowed himself a moment to mull it over. Ever since Sokovia—since Wanda and Pietro—Tony had made it his mission to keep an eye out for enhanced individuals so that he wouldn’t be so easily surprised by somebody’s superpower ever again. But that wasn’t the only reason, just the strongest motivator. He also thought— _hoped_ —that some of them would be willing to help the Avengers down the line. In case there was another alien invasion or an enemy too big for them to handle alone. He hadn’t told anybody else about it yet—he didn’t want to deal with anybody’s judgment, with _Steve’s_ judgment—but he knew that it was better to have contact details ready when they needed them instead of scrambling for a desperate save that might or might not be enough to pull their collective asses out of the fire at the very last moment.

 

“Compile a profile including anything you can find out about his abilities; strengths, weaknesses, an analysis of his activities,” he muttered and flipped through the videos once again. “The usual.”

 

“Certainly," she agreed. "How do you want me to classify Mr. Parker?”

 

He hummed and absentmindedly scratched his chin.

 

“Add him to the ‘promising backup’ pile,” he finally decided. “No need to call him to the front lines if we don’t have to.”

 

“Yes, boss.”

 

Tony waved away one video after the other until the room was dark and still again. His exhaustion was creeping back in, now that he had dealt with the immediate situation. Maybe he would have some time tomorrow to study the kid’s abilities a little closer. Swinging around the city like that looked like fun; maybe he’d be up for a parkour if Tony asked nicely.

 

He snorted.

 

A parkour? He barely had time to catch up on all the work he needed to do for SI, let alone his private projects. If he wanted to take a few hours off to race a teenager across town, he’d have to get really creative with time management.

 

He stood up and stretched until his spine realigned itself with a couple of tangible pops. First sleep then lab time, he told himself and headed off to bed. Pepper would be so proud.

 

“Night, boss.”

 

His lips twitched into a light smile.

 

“Good night, FRIDAY.”

**Author's Note:**

> **Tell me what you think?**


End file.
